Stercutus wrote:Much has changed for the rest of the world since the 90s. Not much has changed in NORK. This might be enough. I also think our negotiating team this around is a bit different and possibly tougher. We will see.

Things could be different these days. I want to have faith in this. I just don't trust the DPRK.

Me neither; however I suffer from eternal optimism. Why else would I be on a website that presupposes my survival of the ZPAW?

From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be rememberèd—
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother

Stercutus wrote:Much has changed for the rest of the world since the 90s. Not much has changed in NORK. This might be enough. I also think our negotiating team this around is a bit different and possibly tougher. We will see.

Things could be different these days. I want to have faith in this. I just don't trust the DPRK.

Me neither; however I suffer from eternal optimism. Why else would I be on a website that presupposes my survival of the ZPAW?

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has announced his country no longer needs nuclear or missile tests and that it would shut down its nuclear weapons test site.

"The nuclear test site has done its job," Kim said in a statement carried by North Korea's state media. The report also said the decision was made in a bid to pursue economic growth and peace on the Korean Peninsula.

President Trump tweeted Friday night about the announcement from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and said it was a sign, "Progress being made for all." His tweet said: "A message from Kim Jong Un: "North Korea will stop nuclear tests and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles."

NPR's Elise Hu reports for our Newscast unit that North Korea's announcement comes ahead of a major summit between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

"The two Korean leaders are set to meet at their shared border next Friday after months of furious diplomacy, signs of good will and reestablishing ties. Now Kim is making a show of announcing a suspension of testing, even though North Korea already stopped testing its weapons months ago. Pyongyang watchers say they'll believe North Korea is denuclearizing when they actually see it.

Robert Kelly, a professor at South Korea's Pusan National University who blogs about regional security, told Elise:

"We're gonna have to see things actually being sawed in half or cut in half or detonated before people are gonna actually believe it. I mean, North Korea has a real credibility problem going back several decades."

"In the announcement of a test freeze, Kim did not mention dismantling his nuclear weapons or long-range missiles."

South Korea's presidential office welcomed North Korea's announcement as "meaningful progress" toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The Associated Press reports:

"China's foreign ministry also reacted to the move by North Korea to halt nuclear and missile tests. A statement on its website read, "China welcomes this."

"Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed caution to North Korea 's announcement. While a positive development, he adds, "What is crucial here, however, is how this development is going to lead to the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of nuclear arms, weapons of mass destruction and missiles."

Governments around the world have reacted to the news that North Korea will immediately stop conducting nuclear missile tests, with many political leaders including Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop, welcoming the announcement with caution.

Key points:

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says the move shows the international pressure and imposed sanctions are working

Russia calls for US and South Korean military to lower activity in the region in response

The announcement comes before a summit between the two Korean nations on April 27

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced his country would suspend all nuclear tests and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launches because it had completed its goal of developing nuclear weapons, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Speaking in London where she is taking part in the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, Ms Bishop cautiously welcomed the announcement.

"In the past North Korea has made promises and then failed to honour them, so we need to see verifiable steps that it will abandon its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes," Ms Bishop told reporters.

In noting that North Korean had continued to develop its nuclear programme under the previous international policy of strategic patience, she praised the current international position of maximum pressure.

"It certainly shows that the international campaign of maximum diplomatic, political and economic pressure is working," she said.

"Australia was part of that. We imposed economic sanctions and we worked with out countries to impose what we thought was maximum diplomatic, political and economic pressure."

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also reacted to the news with caution, but welcomed the announcement as a positive development.

"What is crucial here, however, is how this development is going to lead to the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of nuclear arms, weapons of mass destruction and missiles," Mr Abe said.

Mr Abe said Tokyo would maintain its policy coordination with Seoul and Washington.

Germany and the United Kingdom echoed Japanese and Australian sentiment, with the British Government saying it hoped Pyongyang's action indicated "an effort to negotiate in good faith".

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the announcement was a step in the right direction but added that Pyongyang must reveal its complete nuclear and missile programme.

"To enter into a serious political process working towards the complete denuclearisation of North Korea, it is however necessary for Pyongyang to follow specific steps and to disclose its complete nuclear and missile programme in a verifiable way," Mr Maas said.

"This demand is in accordance with the expectations of the international community," he added.

The European Union's Foreign Affairs Chief Federica Mogherini also said North Korea's move was a positive step, but called for an "irreversible denuclearisation" of the country.

'Meaningful progress' for the region: Seoul

South Korea's presidential office has suggested "meaningful progress" is being made towards the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

Presidential official Yoon Young-chan said Kim Jong-un's announcement would brighten the prospects for successful talks between Seoul, Pyongyang and Washington.

Mr Kim is set to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in at a border truce village next Friday in a rare summit between the rivals aimed at resolving the nuclear standoff with Pyongyang.

China, North Korea's main ally, also welcomed the news from Pyongyang.

The official Xinhua News Agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang as saying "Beijing wishes for North Korea to continue to achieve results in the development of its economy and improving the living standards of its people".

He says China will support North Korea through dialogue and consultations with "relevant parties" to resolve their concerns and improve relations.

I read a variety of news sources to try to gather differing viewpoints. The hilarity of the incongruity between the left and right wing US media on the historic North-South meetings has struck me solidly. I don't recall seeing such sour grapes since the election, and really it is worse than that.

It makes me wonder if the leftist media will actually derail the talks either on purpose or out of blinding hatred by publishing misleading and false articles and video features. It would not be the first time such a thing has happened and I am seeing a lot of misleading stories being published currently. I should also point out that the right wing stands to lose a bit from a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Some things that haven't been discussed are the second level effects on certain programs in the US such as:

- US Missile Defense - According to competitors is ostensibly to protect against NORK aggression

- The huge PACOM presence (1/3 of active US Military Forces) - Much of it to counter-balance NORK

- Various spying and intelligence programs for the purpose of keeping an eye on NORK.

From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be rememberèd—
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother

We need to be careful with politics with this post.
When I first saw the news of this, the article almost seemed to view peace as the end of the world.

So yes the reporting on this is at best, in the US at least ,biased based upon the political views of the news outlet doing the reporting...Just like it is with every other subject.

My personal opinion is that North Korea really had very few options. It may have nuclear weapons but it's delivery systems are limited. It certainly has a huge land army that is quite threatening. But its ability to project power is limited. As a Texan would say they're all hat and no cattle.

A war with SK, Japan or the US would be an end to the Kim dynasty. That outcome is unacceptable to NK.

If you think about it and you were in Kim's position what bargaining chip do you have at this point? He really does'nt have much to bargain with, so offering to end the war that has been over for quite some time on paper is actually a clever bargaining chip to put up.

It really does not give up much since a declaration of War is best to reinstate. Still it is good optics.

For many, last Friday was the first time they heard the voice of the Supreme Leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un.

It was — to some — a surprisingly steady voice, far from the cartoonish image of North Korean leaders fixed in our minds from too many Hollywood films and ill-informed media commentary.

It took me back to April 2012, the birth anniversary of North Korea's founding father and eternal President, Kim Il-sung.

Kim Jong-un's six year plan

Kim Jong-un was then in his late 20s and new to the leadership. He marked his grandfather's birthday with his first speech to the North Korean people.

Reporting for CNN, I watched the young leader stride on stage in a stadium filled with tens of thousands of soldiers.

Here is what I wrote at the time:

"The adoring crowd who have been chanting his name falls silent. Kim Jong-un, not yet 30 years old, appears slightly nervous. His voice doesn't waver but his body moves back and forth restlessly and his eyes dart around. If his nerves betray him slightly, his words stay strong".

"He stands atop the shoulders of the men who have gone before him, his grandfather and father. Directly below him hang the huge portraits of the man North Koreans call the Great Leader, Kim Il-sung, and his son the so-called Dear Leader, Kim Jong-il."

In hindsight, that speech was a road map to drag the nation into the 21st century, to make it strong and prosperous.

He laid out a commitment to build his nation's military, reunite the Korean Peninsula, bring peace and reform North Korea's economy.

It is clear to me now that this man had a plan and so much of what he spoke of has come to pass.

Reunification a key step

"We have suffered the pain of separation for nearly 70 years," Kim Jong-un declared in his 2012 speech.

"We have lived as one people on the same land for thousands of years. To suffer like this is heartbreaking".

"Our party and our government will work with anyone who truly wants reunification," he said.

It is impossible to overstate the pain of separation felt by the Korean people.

These are families torn apart by war, who haven't seen each-other for more than half a century.

So many have died with the dream of reunification unfulfilled.

It is no surprise that the communique released after the meeting of the North and South Korean leaders last Friday sets out peace and reunification as the first goal: "South and North Korea will reconnect the blood relations of the people".

It stresses that they will "determine the destiny of the Korean nation on their own accord".

Peace plan, military action

But back in 2012, Kim Jong-un was under no illusions that he was leading a nation at war.

As he told his assembled troops:

"Our military has become a powerful military able to handle any kind of modern warfare, with complete offensive and defensive capabilities".

"The foreign powers are not the only ones with monopoly on military supremacy, and the days of their threatening and lying to us with atomic weapons is forever gone."

What has he done since? Mr Kim has accelerated his nuclear program.

US intelligence estimates put his nuclear arsenal at as many as 60 bombs.

He has also fast-tracked his missile program, testing long-range delivery systems that could strike as far away as the western coast of the United States.

North Korea is at its most powerful position in its history.

Mr Kim has learnt the lessons of the past: he has watched as other regimes and other leaders — Iraq, Libya — with no nuclear capacity, have fallen.

He has vowed that will not happen to him: regime survival is paramount.

Feeding North Korea

In 2012, Kim Jong-un presided over a nation that could not feed itself.

He knew the clock was ticking, his power could collapse if he could not build his economy.

Mr Kim made a pledge for his people to suffer no more and came as close as he could to admitting the regime had failed the people in the past:

"Our fellow citizens, who are the best citizens in the world, who have overcome countless struggles and hardships, it is our party's firmest resolve not to let our citizens go hungry again," he said.

Military might, reunification, economy: this has been Mr Kim's strategy, he has pursued his plan from that day to now.

The challenges ahead

The joint declaration between North and South Korea is remarkable, but how will an agreement be enforced?

Can we trust Kim Jong-un?

The man who spoke to the world last Friday, is slightly older and no doubt wiser but his aim is the same.

He is shrewd and calculating, he is clever and too easily underestimated.

He is also brutal: he jails his opponents, crushes dissent, silences freedom of speech — countless people languish in unimaginably cruel gulags — and has allegedly had his uncle and half-brother assassinated.

This is the man Donald Trump will sit down with. There are many good reasons to tread warily; North Korea has played this game before.

But this is a different leader, in a different era: he sees himself as a man of history.

He has styled himself on his grandfather; same hair, same mannerisms.

Kim Il-sung is still hailed as a hero; the man who built the nation.

In 2012 Kim Jong-un told us he wanted to be the man to finish his grandfather's work.

MPMalloy wrote:No one should hold their breath over this. The DPRK has said these things before.

I agree, some healthy skepticism is warranted. But like Stercutus said, some stuff has happened which has never happened before. But if we refuse to believe peace and progress are possible, then we will be right. So I"m not changing my guns for flowers just yet, but I"m willing to ride this train to the final destination.

*Remember: I'm just a guy on the internet
*Don't go to stupid places with stupid people & do stupid things.
*Be courteous. Look normal. Be in bed by 10'clock.

“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” -Bilbo Baggins.

North Korea has cancelled high-level talks with South Korea scheduled for later in the day and is also threatening to pull out of a summit with the United States due to ongoing military exercises between the US and South Korea.

Key points:

North Korea calls drills "provocative military ruckus"

US says it's unaware of any threats to cancel summit

"Max Thunder" exercises involve US and South Korean air forces

North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) called the US-South Korean "Max Thunder" air combat drills, which it said involved US stealth fighters and B-52 bombers, a "provocation" that went against the trend of warming North-South ties.

"This exercise, targeting us, which is being carried out across South Korea, is a flagrant challenge to the Panmunjom Declaration and an intentional military provocation running counter to the positive political development on the Korean Peninsula," South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted KCNA as saying.

"The United States will also have to undertake careful deliberations about the fate of the planned North Korea-US summit in light of this provocative military ruckus jointly conducted with the South Korean authorities."

The US State Department said it did not have any information about the threats to cancel, and planning for the summit was continuing.

"Kim Jong-un had said previously that he understands the need and the utility of the United States and the Republic of Korea continuing in its joint exercises," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told a briefing shortly after the North Korean announcement.

"We will continue to go ahead and plan the meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong-un."

The two Koreas were set to hold a meeting focusing on plans to implement a declaration that emerged from an April 27 summit, including promises to formally end the Korean War and pursue "complete denuclearisation", the South's Unification Ministry said.

Yonhap said the two-week military exercise between the US and South Korea started on Friday.

A Pentagon spokesman confirmed the Max Thunder exercises, an annual drill involving the US and South Korean air forces.

He did not immediately provide further details.

Last year, Max Thunder involved about 1,500 US and South Korean personnel flying aircraft including F-16 fighter jets, according to a US Air Force website.

South Korea says North understood drills would continue

Any cancellation of the summit, the first meeting between US and North Korean leaders, would deal a major blow to Mr Trump's efforts to score the biggest diplomatic achievement of his presidency.

He has raised expectations for a successful meeting even as many analysts have been sceptical of the chances of bridging the gap due to questions about North Korea's willingness to give up a nuclear arsenal that now threatens the United States.

South Korea's National Security Office head Chung Eui-yong said in early March, after meeting Mr Kim, that the North Korean leader understood that "routine" joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States would continue in spite of a warming of ties.

This was widely considered to be a major North Korea concession, though Pyongyang never publicly withdrew its long-standing demand for an end to joint US-South Korea military drills.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday the United States would agree to lift sanctions on North Korea if it agreed to completely dismantle its nuclear weapons program, a move that would create economic prosperity that "will rival" that of South Korea.

Of course NK is going to balk. They have given a lot away at this point and received nothing so far. They are entering the discussion without many cards to play anyway. So their key leverage at this point is to throw a tantrum and threaten to not show up. By doing this they may get something from SK or the USA in return for showing up at the talks. They may not get anything but it is worth a shot on their part.

NK even getting face to face talks with the USA is a huge coup for them internally and externally PR wise. However, a deal still have to be done and if you go into deal you need something to negotiate with to get what you want.

Beside does anyone think little Kim is going to be a happy, skippy advocate of personal freedom for the NORK when this is completed?

I agree. Of course they will balk and try to threaten to extract something from the president. The thinking may be that if he has difficulty at home he may feel more threatened by the idea that this would fall through and will be more willing to make concessions to keep it afloat. To me, the only response for American is to be willing to walk away and keep pressure on. Only by being willing to walk away will America have any leverage. Or so I suspect.

*Remember: I'm just a guy on the internet
*Don't go to stupid places with stupid people & do stupid things.
*Be courteous. Look normal. Be in bed by 10'clock.

“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” -Bilbo Baggins.

The real bargaining chip that the DPRK has is it's nuclear program. If the rest of the world would be able to verify, to it's satisfaction, the complete dismantling of the DPRK nuclear program; then NK could ask for quite a bit. The removal of all sanctions. Full international diplomatic recognition. Big ticket items.

North Korea closed its nuclear test site in spectacular fashion Thursday, blasting the site in what one observer described as a "huge explosion."

"You could feel it. Dust came at you, the heat came at you," reported Sky News' Asia Correspondent Tom Chesire, a British broadcaster who was invited to the demolition.

International media were assembled in view of the Punggye-ri test site, about 500 meters (1,640 feet) away, according to Sky. North Korea claims it tested six underground nuclear devices at the facility.

But longtime watchers of North Korea's nuclear program say the closing of the site will have little impact on the nation's capabilities.

"What does it actually mean in the long term? Probably not that much, unfortunately," says Melissa Hanham, a senior researcher with the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, Calif.

North Korea has already conducted six nuclear tests at the site, the last of which was considered highly successful. Hanham says at this stage, it's not clear that North Korea needs to continue testing its weapons at Punggye-ri. By destroying it, "They're giving away the least useful part of their nuclear program," she says.

Punggye-ri is located in the remote, mountainous northeastern section of the country. The test site is believed to have been established in the early 2000s, and became widely known following the North's first nuclear test in 2006. The smattering of journalists from the U.S., U.K., South Korea, China and Russia took a reported 20-hour journey by train and bus from Wonsan, on North Korea's east coast, to get to Punggye-ri for the nuclear site dismantlement.

In addition to being remote, experts say Punggye-ri is an ideal test site. "From a geologic perspective, it's a really good choice," says Frank Pabian, an imagery analyst at 38 North with a long background in studying nuclear testing. Most of the test tunnels lie under Mount Mantap, a granite mountain that is perfect for containing powerful nuclear explosions.

North Korea's most recent test, in September of last year, was so large that experts have speculated it may have collapsed part of the primary tunnel at Punggye-ri. Some analysts think that the explosion might have rendered the entire site unusable, but Pabian doubts that's the case.

Immediately after the test, he notes, satellite images revealed the North stepped up digging in another tunnel, the so-called West Portal.

"They were going gangbusters," Pabian says, until work stopped abruptly this spring.

Scientists recently estimated that last fall's test produced a yield between 120 and 304 kilotons of TNT equivalent — on a par with many weapons in the current U.S. nuclear arsenal.

"That's pretty impressive," Pabian says. "You don't need to do a whole lot more if you can do that — at least, not anytime soon."

And Hanham says North Korea could probably get the test site working quickly again, if it needed to. In 2008, it demolished the cooling tower for its main reactor at a nuclear complex known as Yongbyon. But a few years later, when disarmament talks broke down, it restarted the reactor, using cooling water from a nearby river.

While demolishing the Punggye-ri test tunnels may not be much of a setback for the North's nuclear program, it does send a clear message to the world. North Korea committed to this gesture following the April 27 inter-Korean summit, where the leaders of the two Koreas signed a joint agreement calling for a "nuclear-free Korean Peninsula."

"If we maintain frequent meetings and build trust with the United States and receive promises for an end to the war and a non-aggression treaty, then why would we need to live in difficulty by keeping our nuclear weapons?" North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un said during the summit to South Korea's President Moon Jae-in. That quote was relayed to the press by Yoon Young-chan, a spokesman for Moon.

The weekend after the summit, it was the Blue House in South Korea that announced North Korea would invite foreign observers to Punggye-ri.

"There are multiple audiences they are targeting," says Lisa Collins, a Korea expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "I think one is the United States, the other is probably China. I'm sure they're also hoping to convince South Korea that they're serious about creating conditions for peace on the Korean Peninsula."

President Trump is scheduled to meet with Kim in Singapore on June 12, and Hanham says this destruction increases the momentum in favor of that meeting.

"I think it's a really visible, evocative, theatrical way to convey that [Kim] is cooperating to achieve the summit," Hanham says.

However, letting in a smattering of foreign journalists is different from North Korea's original pledge following the April 27 summit, in which Pyongyang announced it would let in international journalists as well as nuclear experts to observe the dismantling of its test site. Journalists on this week's trip report no such experts joined them for the visible gesture put on by Kim.

"It would have been a greater indicator of their intention to dismantle their program if they had invited nuclear experts," Collins says.

She adds that although both sides agree that the Korean Peninsula should become "denuclearized," they remain far apart on what that word actually means. The U.S. wants North Korea to unilaterally hand over its nuclear weapons. But North Korea likely has a laundry list of prerequisites, including the drawing down of U.S. troop levels on the Korean Peninsula, a cessation of joint military exercises and delivery of foreign aid.

In the run-up to the summit, Collins warns, "There's a lot of things that could go wrong in the next couple of weeks."

President Trump has called off a highly anticipated June 12 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

"Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long planned meeting," Trump wrote in a letter to Kim.

Trump's decision comes hours after North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, in remarks carried on the country's official KCNA news service, said it would not "beg the U.S. for dialogue" and warned that it could make Washington "taste an appalling tragedy."

Choe also called Vice President Pence a "political dummy" and criticized Pence's recent suggestion that North Korea could end up like Libya if doesn't come to the bargaining table.

"As a person involved in the U.S. affairs, I cannot suppress my surprise at such ignorant and stupid remarks gushing out from the mouth of the U.S. vice president," Choe said.

In calling off the meeting, Trump said Kim had missed an opportunity, but he left the door open to renewed talks in the future.

"The world, and North Korea in particular, has lost a great opportunity for lasting peace and great prosperity and wealth," Trump wrote. "If you change your mind having to do with this most important summit, please do not hesitate to call me or write."

Trump also returned to past form, boasting of the size of the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

"You talk about your nuclear capabilities," Trump wrote. "But ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used."

Earlier in the day, North Korea made a public show of destroying its nuclear testing grounds. But the country's weapons program remains intact.

"We can also make the U.S. taste an appalling tragedy it has neither experienced nor even imagined up to now," Choe warned in her statement.

U.S. stocks fell sharply Thursday after President Donald Trump announced that the hotly anticipated summit next month with North Korea was cancelled.

The meeting would have been the first face-to-face encounter between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader.

"Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting," Trump wrote in the letter, which was released Thursday morning.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 200 points after the announcement, with Goldman Sachs and Boeing leading the index lower. The S&P 500 fell 0.8 percent as a continued drop in oil prices and bond yields dragged down energy and financials stocks, respectively.

"I think Trump got way ahead of himself," said Thomas Block, Washington policy strategist at Fundstrat Global Advisors. "From John Bolton to Mike Pompeo to the CIA: I think he's getting unified advice that this is premature. He loves going things Obama couldn't do, so his gut was telling him to do it."

Trump's letter included a mix of both friendly and threatening language, including praise for North Korea's recent release of three American prisoners and a warning about the size of the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

"I don't think investors would be blamed for thinking that this could go forward," he added. "It's all tied to a bunch of different things, including Chinese trade negotiations."

News of the cancellation came shortly after the Commerce Department said that it started an investigation into whether automobile imports "threaten to impair the national security" of the United States.

The Commerce Department said the investigation "will consider whether the decline of domestic automobile and automotive parts production threatens to weaken the internal economy of the United States, including by potentially reducing research, development, and jobs for skilled workers in connected vehicle systems, autonomous vehicles, fuel cells, electric motors and storage, advanced manufacturing processes, and other cutting-edge technologies."

The possibility of additional import taxes isn't likely to help already stressed trade negotiations between the U.S. and countries like Japan, Germany and South Korea, all major participants in the international automobile market.

These broad trade statements from the White House "start with hyperbole and end with something people can accept," said JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade. "There's a lack of volume as people start to head away for the weekend. It seems like just something to trade on."

Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.1 percent while the Stoxx Europe 600 traded down 0.1 percent, with shares of BMW and Volkswagen each down more than 2 percent.

Shares of electronics and technology retailer Best Buy fell more than 5 percent Thursday morning after the company reported quarterly earnings. Though the company posted solid quarterly comparable sales and earnings, its online sales growth decelerated.

Domestic online comparable sales growth slowed to 12 percent growth in the U.S. from a year ago, compared to 22.5 percent growth.

Best Buy's chief financial officer, Corie Barry, added that the company is not upgrading its full fiscal year outlook during the earnings conference call.

U.S. stocks finished slightly higher on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve announced it would be comfortable letting inflation temporarily run above its target. The Dow Jones industrial average added more than 50 points at the close, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indexes also notching modest gains.

Specifically, the minutes said "a temporary period of inflation modestly above 2 percent would be consistent with the Committee's symmetric inflation objective."

Though the general tone was that inflation would continue to rise, there was disagreement over how confident the Fed should be after undershooting its target for so long, with some members amenable to letting the prices climb higher.

All signs continued to point at a tight labor market, with Thursday's data on new applications for U.S. unemployment rising just slightly to 234,000 for the week ended May 19.

The moves in stocks were accompanied by purchases of safe haven assets like bonds. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely with its price, fell below the key psychological level of 3 percent. The 10-year rate is also important given its role as a benchmark for mortgage rates and other financial instruments.

The dollar index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of other currencies, was down 0.3 percent at 93.73.

After President Trump abruptly called off a June 12 meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong Un to discuss nuclear disarmament, the leader of South Korea is trying to parse the meaning — and the fallout — of the cancellation, as other world leaders express dismay.

South Korean President Moon Jae-In said he was "very perplexed" by the decision, which he called "very regrettable," according to the South Korean news agency Yonhap.

"Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of permanent peace are historic tasks that can neither be abandoned nor delayed," Yonhap quotes Moon as saying.

Moon had called an emergency meeting just before midnight local time to try to "figure out" the meaning of the president's letter.

"[We] are trying to figure out what President Trump's intention is and the exact meaning of it," presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said, according to Yonhap.

It's not clear whether South Korea, a close U.S. ally intimately involved in the negotiations with North Korea, was informed in advance that Trump was calling off the summit.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, speaking to a Senate committee on Thursday, would not confirm whether Seoul had been notified.

Moon, who spoke to Kim Jong Un in a historic meeting in April, was in Washington earlier this week to meet with Trump and discuss strategy for the summit.

Global markets took a hit on the news that the summit was canceled, according to Reuters.

And other world leaders expressed confusion or alarm about Trump's decision.

In remarks at the University of Geneva, the secretary-general of the United Nations, António Guterres, acknowledged the development with a brief statement.

"I am deeply concerned by the cancellation of the planned meeting in Singapore between the President of the United States and the leader of the DPRK," he said. "I urge the parties to continue their dialogue to find the path to the peaceful and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

British Prime Minister Theresa May said the U.K. is "disappointed" that the talks have been called off, according to CNN.

Russian lawmaker Konstantin Kosachev, who chairs the foreign affairs committee in the upper house of Russia's parliament, called the cancellation "a serious blow to peaceful settlement in the region," according to Reuters and Interfax.

The fate of the summit, which had been set to take place in Singapore, had been cast into doubt over the past few weeks.

On Tuesday, Trump warned that there was a "very substantial chance [the meeting] won't work out." North Korea had been signaling that it might call off the summit itself, objecting to military exercises in South Korea and comments from American politicians.